Whitehall drew nearly 50 new companies last year as its renewed economic development strategy began producing big results.

In her state of the city address on Wednesday night, Mayor Kim Maggard talked about the renewed economic development strategy the city has pushed since she took office in 2012 – when the suburb shifted to a proactive stance to encourage business investment.

Since then, incentives have drawn $60 million in business investment. Forty-eight new companies have moved to Whitehall since 2010, including large employers like Wasserstrom Co. and Heartland Bank. The city now hosts 650 businesses, and $50 million in new payroll has been created since 2012.

Maggard said city staff members have visited 110 businesses. Of them, 75 percent were maintaining or growing their employment. These have added $4.5 million in income tax revenue to the city.